wrapped up in words and worlds

Salaam everyone! It’s been a while, and I think I’ve forgotten how to blog, but I’m finally back with a somewhat comprehensive list of books by Muslim authors to add to your TBR in 2020.

Last year, I compiled a list of over 40+ books by Muslim authors so I’m hoping to surpass that figure this year, and it’s already off to a promising start! As always, this list is not exhaustive but it’s a good place to begin if you’re looking to expand your #MuslimShelfSpace! Which of these following books are already on your radar?Read More »

Salaam, everyone! I’m so excited to share the final author interview for #RamadanReadathon 2020.

As you know, the readathon is themed around the anthology Once Upon An Eid, so I wanted to spotlight as many of its contributors as possible during the month. I’ve had an amazing line-up of authors so far and I’m pleased to announce that the last contributor from the anthology to join me is none other than Hena Khan!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hena Khan is a Pakistani-American writer. She is the author of the middle grade novels Amina’s Voice, Amina’s Song, and More To The Story and picture books Golden Domes And Silver Lanterns, Under My Hijab, and It’s Ramadan, Curious George, among others.

Hena lives in her hometown of Rockville, Maryland, with her basketball-loving family. You can follow her on Twitter: @henakhanbooks.

Salaam, everyone! It’s time for the penultimate author interview for #RamadanReadathon.

As well as highlighting the contributors of Once Upon An Eid this month, I also wanted to interview some additional debut or established authors to really capture the diversity of Muslim voices writing today. The next author to join me is Rabiah York Lumbard, whose YA fiction debut No True Believers was published in February!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rabiah York Lumbard is an award-winning author of the picture book, The Conference Of The Birds. Her latest picture book, The Gift Of Ramadan was highly recommended by SLJ as “a perfect addition to holiday book collections,” while her deeply personal debut novel, No True Believers draws on her experience as an American Muslim at home and abroad.

After embracing Islam at the age of eighteen, she earned a BA in Religious Studies from George Washington University and is currently completing her MFA in Creative Writing from Spalding University. She moves frequently but currently lives in the Doha with her husband and three daughters where she also works as a part-time writing specialist at local universities. You can follow her on Twitter: @RabiahLumbard.Read More »

Salaam, friends! As Eid ul-Fitr quickly approaches, I’m counting down the remaining days of Ramadan with the last few author interviews for #RamadanReadathon 2020.

As you know, the readathon is themed around the anthology Once Upon An Eid, so I wanted to spotlight as many of its contributors as possible during the month. The penultimate story in the anthology is written by Ayesha Mattu, so I’m excited to welcome her on the blog today!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ayesha Mattu’s two groundbreaking anthologies – Love, InshAllah: The Secret Love Lives of Muslim Women and Salaam, Love: Muslim Men on Love, Sex, and Intimacy – were featured globally by media from the New York Times to the BBC to the Jakarta Post. She was selected a “Muslim Leader of Tomorrow” by the UN Alliance of Civilizations, and is an alumna of Voices of Our Nations writers’ workshop.

Her work has most recently anthologized in: Good Girls Marry Doctors: South Asian American Daughters on Obedience and Rebellion and Once Upon An Eid: Stories of Hope and Joy by 15 Muslim Voices. You can follow her on Twitter: @Ayesha_Mattu.Read More »

Salaam, friends! It’s time for another author interview for #RamadanReadathon 2020.

As you know, the readathon is themed around the anthology Once Upon An Eid, so I wanted to spotlight as many of its contributors as possible during the month. I’m excited to announce that the next author from the anthology to join me is Huda Al-Marashi!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Huda Al-Marashi is the author of First Comes Marriage: My Not-So-Typical American Love Story, a memoir the Washington Post called “a charming, funny, heartbreaking memoir of faith, family, and the journey to love.”

Her other writing has also appeared in the Washington Post, the LA Times, al Jazeera, the Rumpus,and elsewhere. First Comes Marriage was longlisted for the Chautauqua Prize and a finalist for the Southern California Independent Booksellers’ Award.

Salaam, everyone! I’m so excited to introduce another guest for the next author spotlight of #RamadanReadathon.

Admittedly, one of my favourite things about hosting this readathon is getting to interview such a diversity of Muslim authors, so I’d like to give a warm welcome to Saadia Faruqi for joining me today to discuss her two upcoming MG novels, A Place At The Table (co-written with Laura Shovan) and A Thousand Questions!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Saadia Faruqi is a Pakistani American author, essayist and interfaith activist. She writes the children’s early reader series Yasmin published by Capstone and other books for children, including middle grade novels A Place At The Table (HMH/Clarion 2020) co-written with Laura Shovan, and A Thousand Questions (Harper Collins 2020).

She has also written Brick Walls: Tales of Hope & Courage from Pakistan, a short story collection for adults and teens. Saadia is editor-in-chief of Blue Minaret, a magazine for Muslim art, poetry and prose, and was featured in Oprah Magazine in 2017 as a woman making a difference in her community. She resides in Houston, TX with her husband and children. You can follow her on Twitter: @SaadiaFaruqi.Read More »

Salaam, friends! It’s time for another author spotlight for #RamadanReadathon 2020.

As you know, the readathon is themed around the anthology Once Upon An Eid, so I wanted to spotlight as many of its contributors as possible during the month. I’m so excited to have Hanna Alkaf joining me on the blog today to talk about the anthology and her upcoming novel The Girl and The Ghost!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hanna Alkaf graduated with a degree in journalism from Northwestern University and spent over ten years writing everything from B2B marketing emails to investigative feature articles, from non-profit press releases to corporate brochures. She now spends her time making it up as she goes along, both as an author of fiction and as a mom.

Hanna lives in Kuala Lumpur with her family. Her first young adult novel, The Weight Of Our Sky, was published by Simon & Schuster in 2019; her middle grade debut, The Girl and The Ghost, will be published by HarperCollins in 2020. You can follow her on Twitter: @yesitshanna.Read More »

Salaam, everyone! I am so excited to welcome Adiba Jaigirdar on the blog today for the next author spotlight of #RamadanReadathon.

In previous years, I’ve made an effort to spotlight debut Muslim authors during the month so I obviously couldn’t pass on the opportunity to interview Adiba about her debut novel The Henna Wars, which is out today from Page Street Kids!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Adiba Jaigirdar was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and has been living in Dublin, Ireland from the age of ten. She has a BA in English and History, and an MA in Postcolonial Studies. She is a contributor for Bookriot. All of her writing is aided by tea, and a healthy dose of Janelle Monáe and Hayley Kiyoko.

When not writing, she can be found ranting about the ills of colonialism, playing video games, and expanding her overflowing lipstick collection. She can be found at adibajaigirdar.com or @adiba_j on Twitter and @dibs_j on Instagram. Read More »

Salaam, friends! I’m excited to share the next author interview for #RamadanReadathon 2020.

As you know, the readathon is themed around the anthology Once Upon An Eid, so I wanted to spotlight as many of its contributors as possible during the month. I’m pleased to announce that the next author from the anthology to join me is none other than Ashley Franklin!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ashley Franklin is an African-American Muslim writer, mother, and adjunct college professor. She received her M.A. from the University of Delaware and B.A. from Albright College, both in English Literature.

She is represented by Kathleen Rushall of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency. Her debut picture book, Not Quite Snow White (HarperCollins) was published in 2019. Her short story, Creative Fixes, is included in the Once Upon An Eid (2020) anthology.

Like myself, I’m sure many of you are studying for exams during this blessed month of Ramadan. Due to the nature of the lunar calendar, my exam seasons for the past two years were in Ramadan and this brought unique challenges, and continues to do so, but unique rewards as well.

I’m sure we can all agree the most challenging aspect of exams in Ramadan is hunger. When your suhoor is out of your system, it’s really difficult to concentrate and motivation goes out of the window! Trying to refocus your mind and not think about food is hard.

Another difficulty, for me personally, was guilt. I felt that I was not doing enough ibadah or making the most of Ramadan and in a way choosing dunya over deen. However, I came to realise that is not the case. The act of studying, with the right intentions, can become ibadah. Upon learning this, I no longer saw studying as an obstacle in the way of me fully observing Ramadan but a means to worship Allah by working hard for exams and getting the hasanat at the same time. Two birds, one stone.Read More »

It’s hard to get into the spirit of Ramadan during these uncertain and stressful times, especially since going to the masjid and praying in congregation is one of the major events that makes me feel like it’s Ramadan. I know a lot of people are feeling the difference this year because we aren’t able to celebrate the way we are used to.

Five years ago, I went to study abroad and didn’t get the chance to celebrate Ramadan with my family for years. And let me tell you, it’s HARD. I was in the dorms having to eat dorm food and take out for sehri, and I couldn’t go to the masjid and meet with my family friends or have my mom’s food (that was honestly the hardest part, not gonna lie here).

Of course, I had made friends and that made the whole experience so much easier. In order to get into the spirit of Ramadan without our families, my friends and I would do sehri together (with wake up calls to make sure we didn’t miss it!) and have iftar parties every once in a while. They became my family and now I miss that.Read More »

Posts navigation

Hello! I’m an unapologetically British-Muslim writer and blogger with a passion for talking stories and telling stories. This blog is a scrapbook of sorts and a collection of my thoughts on a range of topics: from books to bullet journaling, diversity, identity and everything in between.